5 startups in the BNP Paribas ecosystem: portraits

13.01.2016 | Innovation

Encouraged, supported, recognized and financed: numerous startups gravitate around the Group within a rich and stimulating ecosystem. Below are the portraits of five startups who illustrate the many forms of BNP Paribas’s commitment to innovation.

Drust: alumnus of Le Camping’s 6th season

On December 3 of last year, L’Atelier BNP Paribas San Francisco celebrated its 10th anniversary by inviting six startups to take part in a roundtable. One of them was Drust, an innovative new business specializing in smart mobility, which was selected to participate in the 6th season of startup accelerator Le Camping, in partnership with BNP Paribas.

During the 2014-2015 season, Drust developed its project for a system to analyze the state of a car in real time by designing the “Akolyt” box, which collects data on a car’s performance. The collected data is transmitted to a driver smartphones via Bluetooth, enabling them to better adapt their driving.

Feeligreen: discovered by Innov&Connect

The “Innov&Connect” program connects innovative and creative startups with Mid-Sized Businesses (MSBs) so they may develop new projects together. They also receive support from the experts of L’Atelier BNP Paribas and from the Group’s French retail banking innovation teams.

One of the projects launched through the program’s first season came from Feeligreen, a company specializing in using micro-currents for dermo-cosmetic applications, which has since prospered. Feeligreen raised the funds it needed and its project is now off to a running start.

Phonotonic: exhibited at the Corner for a Changing World

The BNP Paribas We Are Innovation (WAI) centers are home to several promising startups. One of them is Phonotonic, hosted by Paris WAI and also selected to display its product at the Corner for a Changing World, an exhibition introducing the general public to new products and services that respond to major challenges facing society. Phonotonic designed a connected object that revolutionizes musical practices: now your movements can make music, and (good) dancers can become (good) musicians!

Selected and housed by the Paris WAI, Phonotonic also features among the Top 30 Music Startups named by the MIDEMLAB International Competition and has been selected by Challenges magazine among the Top 100 startups for investors in 2015.

Telegrafik, created by Carole Zisa-Garat, is a Big Data startup that offers connected intergenerational services. Its “OTONO – ME” product supplies activity monitoring and alert services for vulnerable persons, using data collected by sensors located throughout their home.

Carole Zisa-Garat received the 2015 La Tribune BNP Paribas Young Entrepreneur Award in the Innov&Connect category – Telegrafik participated in the program after winning the Open Innovation competition launched by BNP Paribas Cardif in June 2014!
Now a part of the BNP Paribas ecosystem, Telegrafik has begun to generate its first revenue.

C-Way: housed at WAI Paris

C-Way is already using its website to pre-market the first plug-and-play GPS wristband for children, enabling adults to locate their children using their smartphones, anywhere in the world!

This innovative product came to fruition with support from BNP Paribas. C-Way is a startup housed at the Paris WAI center and specializes in fun and smart connected objects that make digital connections between parents and small children!

Startups driving innovation

Starting at ideation and all the way up to launch, startups need tailored solutions – including financial, technical and logistical.
From Le Camping to the La Tribune BNP Paribas Young Entrepreneur Award, the Paris and Massy-Saclay WAI centers, a partnership with NUMA, the Innov&Connect program or the Innovation Hubs and more, BNP Paribas is committed to its role in supporting and building closer ties with these startups.